Here’s how the Priyanka Chopra movie The Sky Is Pink concluded the Delhi trilogy. Traditional film trilogies usually feature linear narratives and constant protagonists, but thematic movie trilogies are a different beast. Rather than a series of interconnected installments, they’re more like a trio of self-contained movies with standalone stories that are linked by certain themes – like Gus Van Sant’s "Death" trilogy (Gerry, Elephant, Last Days) or Lars von Trier’s "Depression" trilogy (Antichrist, Melancholia, Nymphomaniac) for example. There's also John Carpenter's "Apocalypse" trilogy, consisting of The Thing, Prince Of Darkness and In The Mouth Of Madness.
Directed by internationally acclaimed Indian filmmaker Shonali Bose, the Delhi trilogy is another thematic trio of films linked by both their setting and their exploration of mother-child relationships and death. The trilogy began in 2005 with Bose’s directorial debut Amu – an acclaimed Indiana drama based on her novel of the same name that follows an adopted Indian American woman named Kaju (Konkona Sen Sharma) as she visits her relatives in Delhi after graduating college. Long repressed memories soon surface and Kaju ends up discovering tragic truths about both her adoptive mother and her biological parents.
2014's Margarita With A Straw is the second film in the Delhi trilogy. French Indian actress Kalki Koechlin stars as Laila – a teenager with cerebral palsy studying at Delhi University. The coming-of-age drama follows Laila as she spends a semester at New York University and falls in love with fellow female student Khanum (Sayani Gupta). Although the film is about Laila’s journey of self-discovery, her often prickly relationship with her orthodox mother Shubhangini (Revathi) is central to the story too – especially after Laila returns to Delhi and her mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the mother-daughter relationship is reversed as causing their roles as Laila becomes the caregiver. The Delhi trilogy then concluded in 2019 with the release of The Sky Is Pink.
Like Amu and Margarita With A Straw before it, the movie is set in Delhi (for the most part) and has a mother-daughter relationship central to its plot. The Sky Is Pink differs from its predecessors, in that it’s based on a true story and puts the focus on the parent rather than the child. It’s inspired by the life and death of Indian teenager Aisha Chaudhary who was born with a rare genetic disorder called severe combined immunodeficiency and was co-produced by actor Priyanka Chopra, who also stars as Aisha’s mother Aditi alongside Farhan Akhtar as her husband Niren.
While The Sky Is Pink might deal with a sad subject, Shonali Bose treats it with both compassion and humor. The result is a bittersweet comedy-drama that celebrates both life and death as it explores how Aisha’s parents navigate their daughter’s illness and the strain it puts on their own relationship. Co-leads Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar were praised for their performances, as was Bose for her direction and screenplay – making The Sky Is Pink a worthy film to conclude to the Delhi trilogy.